On March 3, the peach blossoms bloomed.

Peach Blossom Street is full of flower admirers, and the street vendors are connected into a line, intoxicated and busy. Yushan moved slowly with the flow of people, with a decadent face, confused eyes, and no intention to enjoy the beautiful scenery on the roadside, not knowing where to go.

Yushan felt like a superfluous person, with no place for himself in a huge city.

Thinking about his own name is to get a thick atmosphere, driving the mountains and controlling the mountains, driving the peaks, how heroic it sounds, but this life:

Life is thinner than paper.

With longing and carrying expectations, far away from home, I came to Yunmeng County, for more than a year, crawling, stumbling, and wanting to mix up as a person, but I became more and more like a dog.

As long as people are diligent and willing to work, life will naturally get better and better.

However, don't get sick and don't borrow.

Sixteen-year-old Yushan was also full of hope for life at the beginning, and his luck was good, he found a job in the Cai family's paper mill, relying on getting up early and working hard, earning about 300 copper coins per month, in addition to basic living expenses, he could still have more than 100 yuan a month, and in seven or eight months, he had a thousand copper coins, which could be exchanged for one or two silver.

Yushan deliberately went to the money village and exchanged a thousand copper coins for one or two silver, for which he also paid a handling fee of a copper coin.

But there are unforeseen circumstances, but I didn't expect that my healthy body suddenly got a strange disease.

This disease is actually not strange, after all, some are treated, and there are many patients, but the treatment is expensive because the medical expenses are expensive.

A few months after he became ill, the remaining silver was spent, not to mention, he was still in debt, and the job of the Cai family's paper mill was gone, and it had been replaced by a new man.

At present, he is penniless, has no fixed residence, and there are several IOUs with signatures and drawings in the bank. The reasons for Qian Zhuang's willingness to lend money are:

Young age, a long life.

The first and fifteenth days of the new year have to meet, if you can't find anyone, the money village will send someone to your hometown Yujia Village to ask for debts.

In recent days, Yushan has been looking for a job, after all, he will be hungry, and people can't always sleep under the eaves of the corner of the street, and they have to earn money to pay off their debts.

After he recovered from his illness, he did not get a job trial, but when the employer and the man there saw that Qian Zhuang sent someone to collect the debt from Yushan, Yushan lost this job again.

And what really made Yushan's hope collapse was the cruel reality revealed by Qian Zhuang Ma Zai:

People like you are like a dog that has fallen into the water, and if you want to go ashore, don't dream, if you go ashore, what will we eat?

After walking Peach Blossom Street, there is the Yunmeng River in front of you, you can reach the river, look at the rolling river, but your heart is like stagnant water, and in your mind, the figures of those close to you are floating in the distance.

Suddenly.

Bang – splashing water.

"Someone has jumped into the river!" shouted someone by the river.

A thin figure shook suddenly, rushed out quickly, and plunged headlong into the river.

Many people ran to this side when they heard the sound, and the shore of the accident site was soon surrounded by people, and everyone pointed and pointed, chirping, and laughing to see the excitement, but no one went into the water to rescue.

After a long while, there was finally a new movement on the water.

First two indistinct heads burst out of the water, and then one could be seen: one man was holding the other from behind, struggling to swim towards the shore.

At this time, a man finally stood up and handed a long bamboo pole to the people in the river.

The man in the water reached out and grabbed the bamboo pole, looked up to the sky and gasped for a few breaths, then grabbed the bamboo pole with one hand and hugged the other with the other, and leaned towards the shore by the pull of the bamboo pole.

After pulling aside, with the assistance of the man who handed the bamboo pole, both the rescuer and the rescued went ashore.

The rescued person choked on a lot of water and lay on the ground and vomited.

The rescuer thanked the person who handed the bamboo pole, and quickly patted the back of the rescued person to help him spit out the water.

The person handing over the bamboo pole was a thin old man, who was almost the age of a sixtieth birthday, but he was very energetic, and he could see that his body was still strong, but he was starting to be a little hunchbacked.

The thin old man came closer and squatted down and asked softly, "Young man, why can't you think about it?"

The rescued man straightened up slightly, stretched out his hand to wipe the water stains on his face and mouth, turned his head to look at the thin old man, and said in a daze: "Who pushed me down?

The thin old man frowned and said, "So, someone deliberately harmed you?"

The rescued man shook his head and said, "I don't know." I didn't recruit anyone or provoke anyone, who wanted to harm me?"

Seeing that the rescued man was fine, the rescuer got up and left, and before leaving, he bent down and bowed to the thin old man.

He is the mountain rider.

The thin old man nodded politely to Yushan, and then, reaching out and patting the shoulder of the man on the ground, signaling that he would leave.

After squeezing out the crowd of onlookers, the thin old man followed all the way to the back of Yushan.

Yushan was soaking wet, twisting his clothes as he walked, aimlessly, thinking nothing in his heart, very numb, and not noticing that someone was following him.

After leaving the river, I walked into an alley, the road surface in the alley was potholed, the walls on both sides were mottled, and the deeper I went, the more dark and lonely it became, but Yushan walked inward unconsciously, as if the deeper it was, the more comfortable it would be.

In the end, the mountain came to an end.

There was a wall ahead, and if you wanted to go further, you had to climb over it, and Yushan looked up at the wall, then squatted down in one of the darkest corners, with her head down.

The thin old man approached step by step, not fast or slow, there was footsteps, but not heavy.

Sensing that someone was coming, Yushan raised his head and looked at it blankly, obviously there was a figure flashing in his eyes, but he was silent as if he hadn't seen anything.

The thin old man didn't mind, but smiled and took the initiative to greet first: "Young man, we meet again." ”

Yushan nodded stiffly, didn't speak, didn't want to say anything, didn't know what to say.

The thin old man still didn't mind, approached with a smile, touched his sparse beard, nodded constantly, and said: "The young man is dignified, the heavenly court is full, and the earth pavilion is round, he is rich and auspicious, and he is a rich and noble person!"

These words are rare and good words, and it is the first time that someone has said such a thing to himself in Yushan's impression, but when he hears it in his ears, his heart is even more bitter.

But he couldn't ignore the kindness of the old man, and Yushan replied with a wry smile: "Thank you for the old man's good words, and please don't tease me, I am in a difficult situation, don't say that I have anything to do with wealth, I'm afraid it will be extremely difficult to live." ”

The thin old man waved his hand and said: "Where is this saying young man, there is a good saying, don't look at the poverty of the youth, you have to look at the ambition of the youth, where there is a will, there is a way, and the hard work is worth it." ”

Yushan was gloomy: "But God, bear me." ”

The thin old man continued: "If the sky really bears you, why don't you go against the sky?"

Yushan shook his head: "I can't go against this day." ”

The thin old man looked serious: "No, you are rebellious." ”

I don't know why.

The thin old man motioned to stand up, Yushan slowly got up, and the thin old man said: "Today on the riverside, that person fell into the river, and you are the only one who goes into the water to save you, if you don't save it, that person will definitely die, right?"

Yushan nodded.

"Is it providence that the death of that man is like a catastrophe from heaven?"

Yushan continued to nod.

"Did you pull that man back from death, against the will of God?"

Yushan looked at the thin old man blankly, nodding or shaking his head.

The thin old man laughed and said, "The old man's surname is Mo, a famous master." Boy, why don't you tell me your name first?"

Yushan bowed his hand: "The younger generation Yushan, meet the predecessors of Mofuzi." ”

Mo Fuzi nodded and smiled: "You don't have to be polite, you and I will talk while walking." The old man lives nearby, there is only one wife in the family, it is difficult to have visitors all year round, the house is deserted, today Xiaoyou went to my house as a guest, so that my wife was surprised and happy. ”

"This—" Yushan hesitated.

Mo Fuzi stretched out his hand and pulled Yushan as he walked, and said: "Yushan Xiaoyou, don't dislike the old man's lonely family, and don't be polite to the old man, otherwise the old man will think that the little friend is hypocritical!"

Yushan was helpless, so he had to walk with Mofuzi.

Out of the alley turn a corner, into another alley, this alley has some impressions, called Huaishu Lane.

There are not many people living in Huaishu Lane, only a few households, the end of the alley is close to the river, the wind is strong, it is good in summer, but it is sad in winter, a gust of cold wind pours into the alley, making people tremble when they walk.

Mofuzi's house is at the end of the alley, an old single-family courtyard, there is an old locust tree in the yard, there is a well on the west side of the tree, the well is covered with a large hat that is just a little wider than the well, there is a small pavilion on the east side of the tree, there are small tea tables and a few stools in the pavilion, the main room is a few wooden houses, the whole looks old and simple, but it is also neat and comfortable.

However, it is surprising that Mo Fuzi's wife is actually a dwarf old woman.

It's not that Mofuzi's wife should be, but dwarfs are not common.

At first glance, there will inevitably be something strange in his eyes, Yushan looked guilty, and hurriedly apologized for his faux pas.

The two old men laughed, so that the young man didn't have to mind.

The dwarf old woman greeted Yushan very warmly to take a seat, so that Yushan didn't need to call her an old lady, and called Granny Qing to listen closer, and then happily went to the kitchen.

While making tea, Mo Fuzi told Yushan about the historical figures of Yunmeng County.

Yushan nodded as he listened, and occasionally reluctantly said a word or two about what he knew, lest the old man find it boring to sing a one-man show, and in his heart, it was like sitting on pins and needles, because he heard chickens and geese slaughtering in the kitchen.

It's just a meeting in Pingshui, there was no friendship before, the guests came empty-handed, but the host killed chickens and slaughtered geese.

Besides, Yushan himself is a penniless, unemployed, debt-ridden vagrant, with a humble status, how can he be so entertained?

It's not just flattering to be described.

So, Yushan found an opportunity to speak, and informed Mo Fuzi of his embarrassing situation without any deception, saying that he might not be able to repay the favor he was entertained today.

Unexpectedly, after listening to this, Mo Fuzi laughed and said: "Silly child, accompany the old man to have a cup of tea and have a meal, what do you want to do so much? A cup of tea and a meal are comparable to a human life? Saving a life is better than creating a seventh-level floating slaughter, compared to the wealth in your heart, the current predicament and that little debt are nothing, looking back in the future, it is just a small story you experienced." ”

Although these words did not untie Yushan's heart knot on the spot, Yushan really felt the kindness and warmth of the old man.

Speaking from the heart, he especially looked forward to some kindness and warmth coming to him.

But when he really had, he couldn't feel at ease, and he always felt that he owed more.

After eating this incomparably sumptuous meal with blurred tears, seeing that it was not early, Yushan bowed with tears and said goodbye to the two old men.

However, the old dwarf woman pulled Yushan with tears and said, "Child, where can you go, you can live here with peace of mind in the future, and you should be a companion for the old man, okay?"

Yushan couldn't hold back his tears anymore, and the tears fell straight down, covering his face and squatting on the ground and crying bitterly.

Eventually, he stayed, crying all night.